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Grafting of Beads into Developing Chicken Embryo Limbs to Identify Signal Transduction Pathways Affecting Gene Expression
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Parallel waves of inductive signaling and mesenchyme maturation regulate differentiation of the chick mesonephros

Sharon Soueid-Baumgarten1, Ronit Yelin, Etty K Davila

  • 1Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.

Developmental Biology
|October 5, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Mesonephros kidney development in chicken embryos relies on two parallel anterior-to-posterior signaling waves: nephric duct induction and mesenchyme competence. Wnt signaling is crucial for tubule differentiation, but the nephric duct provides additional signals.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Biology
  • Embryology
  • Kidney Development

Background:

  • The mesonephros is a transient kidney in chicken embryos, developing sequentially from anterior to posterior.
  • Nephric duct migration is essential for mesonephros tubule differentiation, influencing key gene activation like Lhx1 and Wnt4.
  • Early mesenchyme markers (Osr1, Eya1, Pax2) are activated independently of the nephric duct.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the signaling mechanisms regulating mesonephros tubule differentiation in chicken embryos.
  • To determine the roles of the nephric duct and mesenchyme competence in kidney development.
  • To elucidate the contribution of Wnt signaling and other factors to mesonephros formation.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of gene expression patterns (Lhx1, Wnt4, Osr1, Eya1, Pax2) in normal and experimentally manipulated chicken embryos.
  • Blocking nephric duct migration to assess its impact on mesonephros development.
  • Experimental manipulation using Wnt signaling to rescue gene expression in duct-blocked embryos.

Main Results:

  • Nephric duct migration is required for posterior Lhx1 and Wnt4 activation, but not for early mesenchyme markers.
  • Supplying Wnt signaling can rescue Lhx1 and Wnt4 expression in duct-blocked embryos, but fails to restore epithelial structures.
  • Anterior mesenchyme shows higher competence for Wnt-induced differentiation than posterior mesenchyme.

Conclusions:

  • Mesonephros tubule differentiation is controlled by two parallel anterior-to-posterior waves: nephric duct induction and mesenchyme competence.
  • The nephric duct provides Wnt signals and potentially other factors necessary for complete tubule formation.
  • Differential competence of mesonephric mesenchyme contributes to the anterior-to-posterior patterning of kidney development.
Keywords:
Chick embryoInductionKidneyMesonephrosWnt signaling

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